1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a booklet making system, booklet making method, and program for making a booklet by center-binding, center-folding, and cutting a bundle of printing media on which images are printed.
2. Description of Related Art
Recently, a booklet making system is implemented which comprises an image printing section and post-processing sections, and makes a booklet. The image printing section prints an image on a printing medium. The post-processing sections are a center binding section which staples a bundle of printing media bearing images at the center of the printing media, a center folding section which folds a printing medium, and a cutting section which cuts a printing medium bundle bounded and folded at the center and aligns the edges of the printing media.
In a cutting process by the booklet making system, the excess or deficiency of the cutting size arises depending on the number of printing media of one booklet, or cut edges become nonuniform. To prevent this, there is disclosed a post-processing apparatus which comprises an section for inputting designation a position for cutting at edges or three cutting positions of a printing medium bundle bounded and folded at the center for each printing medium size. The post-processing apparatus controls cutting positions in accordance with data inputted from the section (see patent reference 1: Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2000-211806).
A printing medium bundle is bounded at the center, folded at the center, and cut at edges. At this time, if the area where an image is printed is equal between all printing media (i.e., the binding margin is equal between them), a printed image on an outer printing medium of the created booklet comes closer to the binding position than that on an inner printing medium, and part of an image may become unclear. To prevent this, there is proposed a booklet system which adjusts, for each printing medium, the distance between images juxtaposed and printed on a printing medium.
For example, there is disclosed an electronic printing apparatus (see patent reference 2: Japanese Examined Patent Publication No. 8-5261) which can set the margin from the fold line to the printing range and a shift increment x. Every time an inner paper sheet is processed, the margin is shifted by the shift increment x to prevent part of an image page from becoming unclear upon folding and part of an image from being cut in trimming paper edges. There is also disclosed an information processing apparatus which stores a margin adjustment amount set for each medium (printing medium) thickness in center-binding booklet printing, and automatically adjusts the margin from the binding position on the basis of the margin adjustment amount for each paper (see patent reference 3: Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2004-5468).
However, the printing medium size (cutting size) after a cutting process in the booklet making system is set independently of the distance between images juxtaposed on each printing medium. The user must individually set the cutting size and the distance between images printed on a printing medium with poor user friendliness.